


The Tense and the Time

by Elany



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Mentions of PTSD, Multi, Post Season 2, aka I have no real explanation for what's happening to Shiro but it's very scientific™ okay, all ships are relatively minor, being a leap year baby has never sucked so bad, but shallura gets the most on screen development, it's Shiro-centric what did you expect really, magic pretending to be science, vaguely described panic attack(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-24 14:35:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10743687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elany/pseuds/Elany
Summary: Him disappearing had been difficult, they tell him. His absence had been one of the hardest things any of them ever had to deal with, and that is saying a lot.Honestly, thought?  Disappearing had been easy. Putting his life back together after missing so much? That was a different story.And experiencing it time and time again didn't seem to make it any easier.





	The Tense and the Time

Sirens.

The first thing he hears upon waking up is blaring so loud it feels like it’s cutting right through his brain with a barbed knife that hasn’t been sharpened in years. He feels the familiar pang of a migraine before he feels his legs and all he can think about for first few minutes is  _ why does it have to be sirens, off all things? _   
The realisation he’s likely in danger comes later, much later than he’s comfortable with and he jumps up and starts running more out of a reflex than any conscious decision to do so. Blank, undecorated walls around him blur into the sort of nondescript middle grey that makes his already sensitive head spin even more and if he was unsure of where he was before, now he has no way of telling even if he wanted to. Out of nowhere bright blue lights appear, the shade of summer sea on postcards he remembers from – where does he remember those from? His memory is as blurry as his surroundings and the circular beams of blue are doing him more bad than good, with how they keep coming closer and backing up again then moving even closer than before. He feels his throat tighten up and his breath come out in quick and shallow bursts, he swallows over the lump in his throat so loudly he thinks that if there really is some danger around, the enemy was sure to hear him.    
Nobody comes however, and after only one more step the grey envelops him whole, so much closer than before, a distant thud telling him that something has fallen to the ground. He hopes it’s not broken. But he’ll deal with that after a nap.

The second time he wakes up it’s to yet another loud noise, but at least this time it’s not the ear-splitting roar of sirens. It’s a voice, a familiar one, like somebody he might’ve once known and yet like none he’s ever heard before. Something in the back of his mind whispers ‘Lance’, but he knows it’s not him. This voice is too deep, too masculine, like maybe it could be Lance’s father or older brother. Does Lance have a brother? He does. Lance has a big family that he misses with all his heart. Maybe that’s where he is? He chuckles to himself at that. What would he be doing with Lance’s family, anyway? Lance might bring Pidge and Hunk home with him after their space adventure is over, they’re best friends after all. Or maybe even Keith, in time, if luck will have it. Not him thought. 

“Shiro!  _ Shiro! _ Oh my god, Allura, come quickly, it’s Shiro, I swear it’s him, he’s just lying there –  _ Shiro can you hear me?” _

The voice is back again and something about it still reminds him of Lance. But even more is drastically off. Despite fighting in near death situations along the younger boy before, he’s never heard him half as serious, nor as frightened. This can’t be Lance, he decides. It  _ shouldn't  _ be. What would ever make the goofy paladin sound like that? The thought of it scares him more than anything else up to this point and he opens his eyes with a start. A brown, lightly stubbled face is looking at him from the inside of a blue and white helmet, a pair of eyes open so wide they’d be comically large in any other situation, staring at him with such fear and amazement he’s momentarily overwhelmed. He closes his eyes again and takes a deep breath, focusing on the cold surface under his cheek that he’s starting to realise is probably the floor. Shiny, grey, slightly bluish floor.  _ Castle of Lions _ . He focuses on the rest of what is, he can see that now, clearly Lance – and yet just like his voice he’s nothing like Shiro remembers him.

“What happened to your face?”

Shiro half expects Lance to get offended at the remark, it seems like such a Lance thing to do, but the blue paladin just sits back on his feet and furrows his brows at him, touching his face in the same way one would feel for injuries, carefully and meticulously checking every part of his face. Something about that bothers Shiro on a level he can’t even fully understand himself and he interrupts Lance in the middle of making sure there’s no blood on his hand.

“Is that a beard?”

“No? I mean, I guess? We’ve been fighting Haggar’s forces nonstop for nearly two weeks now, I didn’t exactly have the time to shave.” He rubs his chin in contemplation and adds in a grumble so low it’s clearly meant more for himself than Shiro. “Although knowing Keith I might not have a say in keeping it.”

That…makes no sense as far as Shiro is concerned, but it’s also about the only thing Shiro can focus on in this moment. Or maybe it’s just easier repeating the last thing he heard – he’s honestly not sure himself. “Keith? Is he here?”

“Yeah, of course he is. We-” He looks like he’s about to continue but the mention of the other paladin seems to have brought him back to the reality of the situation at hand. “Wait, Shiro, what’s going on? How did you get here?  _ Where were you? _ ”

It’s a few seconds before he realises he doesn’t have an answer to any of these questions, has no memory of anything that has happened after the final battle with Zarkon and an almost painful tightness starts grabbing his chest. It’s another few second before Lance whispers a panicked “Shit!” and scrambles to turn him around and get him into a sitting position. He’s saying more things then, motioning something with his hands that looks a bit like the ebb and flow of the ocean and Shiro thinks he can hear the water clashing against the sides of his head, drowning out all the other sounds around him. He can barely see Lance anymore through the salty water clouding his eyes and he’s only distantly aware of a red blur that has joined the blue paladin by his side. An explosion goes off in the distance and he’s suddenly able to hear some of what the red blur is saying in a voice that’s crackling with so much energy it could set off another explosion all by itself. 

“Shiro! Hey, listen to me. Look at me, Shiro!”

A pair of strong arms is holding him by his shoulders, steadying him and making him look at- Keith?    
He tries for a smile but another curse from Lance tells him he mustn’t have been very successful so he goes back to focusing on breathing, while the voices of Lance and Keith surround him in the only familiar thing about this whole situation.

“You’re only making it worse, Keith!”

“Because you were doing so much better, right?”

“We don’t have time for this! He’s clearly having a- a panic attack or something!”

“I know, Lance, I know what a panic attack looks like, I’m trying my hardest here, okay? Now please trust me and let me do my thing!”

The sound of the ocean is nearly gone by now, and Shiro focuses on Keith kneeling in front of him, solid in a way he doesn’t remember him being, like a rock he’s always hoped he’ll once become for the whole team, his eyes sharp as obsidian glass, fixing him to the spot, unable to look away. For few moments longer Keith just stares at him before leaning back and offering him a small smile.

“It’s nice to see you, Shiro.”  He takes a deep breath and pulls a simple black flask out of one of his pouches. “Want some water? I’ve gotten used to carrying bottles of water everywhere with me, back in the desert, you can have this one.”

To his left, Lance is looking at Keith like he really wants to ask him what the hell he’s doing, and now that Shiro’s more focused he can see that Keith himself doesn’t look quite as sure of himself as he had seemed before. Still he takes the offered bottle and between deep breaths drinks what’s left of the water in it. The second he’s done and the restlessness returns he regrets not having more, or saving some for later, drinking it more slowly, anything. He turns his attention back to Keith who’s still sitting in front of him and taking unusually deep breaths that he suddenly realises are mostly likely for his benefit. It helps a little and with that his thoughts turn back to everything that’s happened since he woke up. On the floor. With no memory of the past – how long? He looks past Keith at Lance, remembering what he had said before.

“I was gone? For how long?”

An uneasy glance passes between the two paladins and neither of them seems willing to answer the question. It’s unusual to say the least, the two of them don’t have any tact to speak of and out of everybody on the ship they’d normally be the most likely to blurt out whatever it is they need to say. Nearly a minute of silent communication goes by before Shiro fakes a cough, reminding them that he’s in fact still there. Both startle like they’ve actually forgotten they aren’t alone and look to the side, still clearly avoiding this whole conversation. A pang of annoyance hits him, bitterness over being left in the dark by his family when he’s already confused and anxious. He tries to ignore it in favour of staring the answer out of Keith and Lance with the sheer force of his disapproving glare.   
Lance clears his throat before looking at the wall to his right and mumbling something that might’ve been “tries” but could’ve just as well been any number of things.

“Sorry, I didn't catch that?”

It’s Keith that finally looks directly at him and says in a clear, loud voice.

“Three years. You've been gone for three years.”

**Author's Note:**

> Keith's 'thing' is bullshitting his way thru this and hoping for the best.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the prologue!


End file.
